Illuminated driveway curbing



United States Patent ILLUMINATED DRIVEWAY CURBING Milton Kessler,Youngstown, Ohio Application April 3, 1956, Serial No. 575,910

4 Claims. (Cl. 240-2) This invention relates to an illuminated curbingand more particularly to an illuminated curbing for driveways androadways.

Garage driveways for private homes are usually made of minimum width inorder to keep down expense. It is customary to provide a curbing,usually of cement construction to delineate the edges of the drivewayand to prevent cars from being driven onto the lawn. It is also.

desirable, in most instances, to illuminate the driveway area, and thereis increasing use of overhead lights for this purpose.

It is a primary object of the invention to satisfy both of the aboveneeds by means ofa simple, unitary, relatively inexpensive construction,which not only provides a raised curbing at one or both edges of adriveway, but also provides suflicient illumination for the area afterthe car lights have been turned oif.

A particular advantage of the illuminated curbing is that its usegreatly decreases the likelihood of a careless driver running a wheelover the curb and onto the lawn, particularly when backing out of thedriveway, as often happens.

Another advantage of the illuminated curbing is that the name andaddress of the owner can be painted or otherwise placed upon theilluminated curbing to provide residence or building identificationwhich can be readily seen both at night and by day.

Another advantage of the invention is that it can readily be installedby relatively unskilled workmen and that burned-out lights can bereadily replaced.

The specific nature of the invention, as well as other objects andadvantages thereof, will clearly appear from a description of apreferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a cross sectional view of an illuminated curb made inaccordance with the invention taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a driveway orroadway constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of another modification using a flexiblecover member;

Fig. 6 is a view of the same modification showing the cover member indeformed condition; and

Fig. 7 is a view of a modification using fewer lamps and reflectedlight.

Referring to Fig. 1, the curbing member comprises a base 2, preferablyof wood treated to resist moisture and rot and insect attack, althoughany other suitable mate'- rial may be used. Mounted on the base 2 is aninverted U-shaped cover member 3 of glass-fiber-reinforced translucentplastic such as Fiberglas or vinyl plastic. The cover member isexceedingly strong and can be made of sufiicient thickness and rigidityto withstand the weight of a vehicle. The inverted U-shaped member 3 ispreferably provided with out-turned flanged portions 4 for increasedstrength and support. Cover member 3 is fastened to base 2 in anysuitable manner, e.g., by nails or rivets o-driven into the base 2. Thebase 2 is fastened to the driveway or roadway which is generally ofeither asphalt or cement, by means of large spikes 7 driven through thetop of the base. For this purpose, it is preferred to useexplosively-driven fasteners, applied before the cover 3 is fastened tothe base 2, whereby the curbing can be applied to an existing roadway ordrive- Way. However, it will be apparent that if the curbing isinstalled while the driveway is being built, this can be done by settingthe entire curb, with pre-driven spikes 7, or suitable pre-appliedbolts, into the still-soft material of, the driveway before it is set.

Within the assembly of cover member 3 and base 2 is any suitableillumination means, illustrated as a string of small lamps 8, similar toa string of Christmas tree lamps, but preferably of moisture-proofoutdoor type. This string of lamps is preferably inserted before thecover is applied. An end-plate 9 is removably fastened to each end ofbase 2, e.g., by screws 11, to facilitate removal and replacement ofburned-out lamps. Since the string of lamps lies loosely inside the curbstructure, it can be readily pulled out for this purpose, and if a pieceof cord is first tied to the remote end of the string of lamps, thelamps can be pulled back into the hollow curb thereby after theburned-out lamp is replaced. Alternatively, the cover member 3 can bemade in short sections removably fastened, as by screws, to the base,and the section over a burned-out lamp can be removed for lampreplacement without pulling out the entire string; in this case, thelamps may be firmly mounted upon and fastened to the base.

Fig. 4 shows an alternative construction similar to that of Figs. 1-3,but using a reinforcing inverted U-shaped metal support 16 under thecover 30!, and the support 16 being perforated to admit light from theinterior to pass through. With this construction, a lighter weight ofplastic cover can be used, or the entire curb may be made strong enoughto withstand heavy traffic, where the curb is to be used on publicroads, etc,

Fig. 3 shows a preferred method of constructing drive ways according tothe invention. The driveway 18 is first laid and smoothed in the usualfashion, and the completely assembled curb members, with predrivenspikes or bolts 7, are then set on the edges of the stillsoft driveway.When the driveway material has completely set or hardened, the curbingis firmly installed in very simple fashion.

Fig. 5 shows an alternative construction in which a cover 3" is providedof flexible translucent plastic material, such as vinyl plastic, whichis exceedingly tough and durable. In this case, the base 2" is providedwith a deep and narrow groove 19 for receiving the lamps or otherilluminating means 18".

Fig. 6 shows the manner in which the cover 3" deforms if a vehicle tire21 is driven up on the curbway. It will be noted that the groove 19protects the lamps, since it is too narrow for the tire to enter intothe groove. If desired, a series of apertures 22 may be drilled into thewood to provide additional illumination at the side of the curbing.However, due to the translucent nature of the plastic cover 3", thelight will generally be sufficiently well distributed so that thisshould not be necessary.

Fig. 7 shows an arrangement permitting the use of fewer lamps, which maybe more powerful, if desired. Curbing sections 3b are provided, each ofa desired length. Between adjacent curbing sections is provided a box orhousing 23 containing lamp 30. The housing 23 is provided withoppositely directed condenser lenses 24, 25 for sending a beam of lightdown the section. Since the lenses are of inexpensive construction andthe beam is not tightly collimated, enough light strikes the translucentwalls 3b to provide the desired degree of illumination. To increase theefficiency, a mirror 27, 28 may be provided at the opposite end of eachsection from the lamp housing, and a reflecting surface may also beprovided on the bottom surface of each section, e.g., a shiny strip ofaluminum foil 29, 29b or similar material may be used. The constructionmay otherwise be similar to that of the preceding figures.

It will be apparent that the embodiments shown are only exemplary andthat various modifications can be made in construction and arrangementwithin the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a vehicle driveway having a smooth surface ofsubstantial thickness, and an illuminated curbing comprising a rigidelongated base member extending for a substantial distance along an edgeof said driveway on said surface, means for securely fastening said basemember to said'surface, an upwardly extending lighttransmitting covermember comprising substantially the entire surface of the curbing andshaped to provide a curb, said cover member being fastened to said basemember to 'form an enclosure between said members, and a pluralityofelectric lighting means comprising a plurality of lamps disposed alongthe length of said enclosure for illuminating substantially the entiresurface of said curb said cover member being of flexible resilientmaterial capable of deformation under pressure but resuming its normalconfiguration when the pressure is removed, said base having alongitudinally extending groove therein, said lighting means beingdisposed within said groove, the walls of said groove extending upwardlysufliciently far to mechanical-1y protect the lighting means fromvehicle wheels.

2. In combination, a driveway for vehicles, said driveway having asmooth vehicular trafiic surface thereof of sufiicient width toaccommodate at least one vehicle and of substantial length and ofsuflicient thickness to support automotive traflic, and aself-illuminated continuous curbing member along and defining an edge ofsaid driveway, said curbing member comprising an elongated rigid basemember lying upon said surface at said edge thereof and securelyfastened thereto, an upwardly extending translucent cover member shapedto provide a curb and fastened to said base member to form an enclosurebe tween said members, said cover member being of tough, resilientplastic material, a plurality of electric lighting means disposed insaid enclosure along the length thereof,

and protective lamp housing means in said enclosure parway on saidsurface, means for securely fastening said base member to said surface,an upwardly extending lighttransmit ting cover member shaped to providea curb and fastened to said base member to form an enclosure betweensaid members, an electric lighting means provided in said enclosure,said lighting means comprising a lamp housing within said enclosure, alamp in said housing, and means for directing light from said lampalongthe length of said enclosure, comprising two lens means disposed onopposite sides of said lamp longitudinally of said enclosure.

4. The invention according to claim 3, and light reflecting means insaid enclosure for reflecting light from said lamp toward said covermember.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,473,375 Kyle Nov. 6, 1923 1,686,363 Bald-vw'n Oct. 2, 1928 -2,092,606Johnson Sept. 7, 1937 2,291,094 McCarthy July 28, 1942 2,332,362 BartowOct. 19, 1943 2,596,603 Sands May 13, 1952 2,602,850 Cline July 8, 19522,749,429 Wavell June 5, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 48,643 France Ian. 19,1938 Addn. to 811,930

490,921 Great Britain Aug. 24, 1938 505,308 Great Britain Mar. 9, 1939

